2001-03-30 04:00:00 PDT San Francisco -- The San Francisco couple indicted in the dog-mauling death of a neighbor often struggled to control their pets, one of which apparently twice attacked a blind woman and her guide dog, according to documents released yesterday.

The previously sealed affidavits, witness statements and other documents were made public after Marjorie Knoller and her husband, Robert Noel, made their initial appearance in a San Francisco courtroom to face charges in the Jan. 26 death of their neighbor, Diane Whipple.

Both were indicted Tuesday by a grand jury. Knoller is charged with second- degree murder, and both face charges of manslaughter and failing to control a mischievous dog.

The documents make reference to letters that Noel and Knoller, both lawyers,

exchanged with two inmate clients at Pelican Bay State Prison. The letters refer to two apparent attacks by Bane -- the Presa Canario blamed largely for Whipple's death -- on a blind woman and her guide dog between June and January.

The documents also sum up earlier findings that Bane had been aggressive and hard to control. In one incident, Noel nearly lost his finger trying to break up a confrontation between Bane and another dog.

Although several victims of the dogs' aggression have testified before the grand jury, the woman with the guide dog referred to in correspondence has not been found.

Noel and Knoller repeatedly have said that Bane and Hera were not aggressive, calling Bane a "pet me, pet me" dog and Hera a "certified lick specialist."

Investigators believe that Bane initiated an unprovoked attack on Whipple, who was mauled in the hallway of a Pacific Heights apartment house where she lived a few doors away from Noel and Knoller. The attack was so gruesome that even seasoned paramedics and police investigators were shocked.

The documents, including affidavits for search warrants for Noel and Knoller's apartment, suggest that authorities suspected sexual abuse of the dogs. Investigators theorized that such abuse may have contributed to the attack on Whipple. But officials said yesterday that it appears investigators found little to support that theory.

Akin reported that he saw "numerous photos of Knoller posing nude with fighting dog drawings" among the property of Paul "Cornfed" Schneider and cellmate Dale Bretches. Both inmates are artists, and have made the Presa Canario dogs the subjects of many of their works.

Akin also reported that he "discovered communications between Noel and Knoller to Schneider that described sexual activities between Knoller and Noel and included photos and drawings of dogs and fighting dogs" as well as a photo of a male dog's genitals.

The inmates enlisted acquaintances outside prison to raise dogs for them, an investigation shows. Bane and Hera, products of that dog breeding enterprise, eventually ended up living with Noel and Knoller.

Akin interviewed Schneider and Bretches, and said the inmates seemed undisturbed after hearing the news of Whipple's death.

"What is the big deal? You know it was just an accident and nobody's fault, " Schneider is quoted as saying.

The inmates seemed more upset that Knoller, who had the dogs at the time, was hurt in the attack, prison authorities concluded.

"We were going to get rid of that dog," Bretches said during the interview. "He (Bane) never showed any signs of what we wanted out of the dogs," and "we didn't think he responded to the training."

"That dog was tame," Schneider said.

NO CONCERN ABOUT DEATH

"Neither inmate displayed any concern for the loss of life but were upset about Noel's wife being injured," according to the prison's summary of the interview. "This conversation (indicated) that both inmates claim ownership of the dog and are aware of the lethal potential instilled in the dog by design, through training."

No such training was documented in the papers.

Knoller, 45, has been placed under psychiatric observation at the county jail medical ward. She was treated by paramedics twice Tuesday, the day of the grand jury indictment.